Phone number misprint sends Florida abuse victims to sex chat line

The Lake County Sheriff's Office discovered a number printed on its domestic abuse and sexual assault brochure was actually a number for a sex chat line.

The brochure is designed to help the victims of crime and is full of information and numbers.

The Sheriff's Office has printed it for years, but this week they got a surprising call.

"We actually had a victim call us and tell us that one of our phone numbers were incorrect, that it was actually to one of those 1-800 chat lines," said Lake County Sgt. Jim Vachon

Deputies called the number and confirmed incorrect. They have destroyed the old brochures and printed new ones.

Employees at the Haven, a domestic abuse shelter for Lake and Sumter counties, are understandably upset.

"It disturbs me because I don't want my victims calling that number. If they are in need of help, if they are upset, that is probably the last number they need to call," said executive director Kelly Smallridge.

The Sheriff's Office said the number was given to them by the Haven. When they looked up the number on the Internet the Haven's name and a very old address showed up.

The best thing they can figure out was that it is an old number from the mid-1990s when the Haven merged with a rape crisis center.

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